Mum hits out at police watchdog after son’s arrest over water pistol deemed ‘reasonable’
The boy was knocked to the ground, handcuffed and arrested on suspicion of having a firearm after a water fight with his younger sister near his home
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The mother of a 13-year-old boy arrested by armed police after pointing a water pistol at his younger sister has hit out at the watchdog who declared the officer’s actions “reasonable”.
The boy, referred to only as Child X, was knocked to the ground, handcuffed and arrested on suspicion of having a firearm after being confronted by officers with submachine guns while having a water fight with his younger sister near his home.
After an officer mistook his water pistol for a dangerous firearm the teen was struck by a police vehicle causing him to crash into a wall during a tactical stop as he cycled alone on Buxted Road, in Dalston, on 19 July 2023.
He was taken to hospital with bruising and swelling after he was released, when his mother arrived at the scene and informed them he was playing with a water pistol.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) launched an investigation when the boy’s mother complained about the adultification and discrimination against her black son during the arrest, in Hackney, east London.
Child X’s mother described the outcome of the IOPC investigation as “extremely disappointing” after it concluded the actions of the police “were reasonable in the circumstances.”
She said: “From the very day of this horrific incident, it was clear to me that the police would not have treated my son in the way that they did if he had been a white 13-year-old boy.
“From the outset, I made it clear that I expected any investigation into the incident to look at the very obvious role that my son’s race played in the way in which he was treated by the police.
“Unfortunately, the IOPC have shown themselves to be completely incapable of understanding what race discrimination is and how it actually operates in the way that black children are treated by the police.”
The arrest came after a Met officer reported that they had seen a male on a bicycle pull out what appeared to be a handgun and point it at a “female” on Buxted Road, before they both cycled off.
On the report he described the firearm as “blue and white” and “shaped like a glock” and the male’s age as approximately 16.
The matter was declared a firearms incident by a tactical firearms commander and armed officers from both the Met and the City of London Police were sent in pursuit.
After the boy was knocked off his bike, he was surrounded by armed officers with their weapons drawn and was arrested and handcuffed on the ground.
An officer asked the child where the gun was and he said it was a water gun and “it’s at home”. During the arrest a member of the public can be heard repeatedly telling the officers that the child had a water gun.
The child was searched and no item was found. The child’s mother confirmed that her son had been playing with a water pistol. The boy was released, his handcuffs were removed and officers left the scene.
The officer told the watchdog that while the toy was blue and white, he knew that firearms could be adapted or made colourful to avoid suspicion.
The IOPC also ruled the tactical stop which injured the boy was “appropriate” given that the officer had an honestly held belief that the child had a firearm.
The IOPC found no evidence to suggest the officer’s calling in of the boy playing with the water gun was influenced by the child’s race.
IOPC regional director Charmaine Arbouin said police had apologised for the distress caused, and that experience would have been frightening for the boy. “Police officers have a duty to protect the public from harm and the evidence from our investigation supported the first officer’s belief that he thought he may have seen a real firearm,” she said.
Campaign group the Alliance for Police Accountability, which supported the mother of the child, criticised the watchdog’s decision.
Its chairman, Lee Jasper said in a statement: “This case exemplifies the failure of both the Metropolitan Police and the IOPC to protect black children and hold officers accountable for the harm they cause. A 13-year-old black boy playing with a water pistol was treated as an armed criminal, brutalised, and left traumatised.